Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

 Would you believe the first day of homeschool this year was taught by my husband? Yep - he's great! I work only 2 hours a week doing some filing at an office, and that happened to be Monday morning. I missed the first day of school.  Over the weekend, I broke out their books, opened new marker boards, and wrote out their first day lesson plans. My hubby ticked through them like a pro.  The first day teaching two kids?  He rocked it. So today (Tuesday) was my first day of homeschool for the year. I usually have all sorts of expectations built up that first day.  We're going to take on spelling, multiplication, learning to read, resetting the calendar, and climb Mount Everest!  I carefully scoured ebay, amazon.com, and publisher's sites this summer to choose just the right curriculum and products.  I excitedly unwrapped each precious package as it arrived in the mail.  With a gleam in my eye, I knew this year was going t...

Twas the day before school started and all through the homestead people were sluggish and filled with dread Then what to my wondering eyes should appear but our Idlewild passes! "Wanna go, dear?" So off in our minivan we flew like a flash to blitz Idlewild once more  in an end-of-summer dash! The night before school began, we took one last trip to our favorite children's amusement park, Idlewild! After riding the train, climbing around in Jumpin' Jungle, and riding all the rides in Raccoon Lagoon, we decided to try something new.  THE SPIDER! Our newly-minted 4-year-old said this was the one ride he wanted to go on before summer ended.  He knew the way there. Lead us right to it. We took great pains to talk our daughters (ages 8 and 5) into trying it.  How bad could it be? Loading took a while, but once we got going, my 8-year-old buried her head like an ostrich in the sand.  I began with "Wheee-ee" and "Woooo's ,...